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Reynolds and ESPN Settle Lawsuit

Harold Reynolds, the ESPN baseball analyst who was fired in 2006 amid accusations of sexual misconduct, has settled his $5 million wrongful termination lawsuit against the network. Details of the agreement, which was reached last week, were not released.

“This was a matter of principle,” Reynolds, who now works for MLB.com, said in a statement. “I stood on principle and didn’t waver. My goals were met. Now I can put this behind me and concentrate on the game I love.”

ESPN said it stood by its decision to dismiss Reynolds. It said in a statement that the settlement was “economically compelling to ESPN,” amounting to a “fraction of his demands and less than what it would have cost to litigate the case.”

ESPN fired Reynolds four months into a six-year contract that was worth at least $4.9 million. It said in response to his lawsuit in a Hartford court that five young women had lodged “concerns” about Reynolds’s sexual behavior.

Reynolds believed that ESPN’s claims misrepresented his actions and said in court papers that his firing was “affected by racial bias.” He cited instances of sexual harassment and lewd and drunken acts by white employees who were not fired. Reynolds had said he hugged a female intern, who later complained.